BLOG | TEDI @ FAREHAM COLLEGE

PROGRESSION MENTOR BLOG | AUGUST 2022

By Sophie Coward, Progression Mentor @ Fareham College

With the support of SUN Progression Mentor Sophie at Fareham College, three students were successful in gaining places to study at brand new university The Engineering Design Institute, TEDI London, to study Global Design Engineering, and were also each awarded the Assessment Centre Performance Scholarship.

At Fareham College, students at the CEMAST campus study a variety of hands- on vocational courses in engineering subjects. Following the interrupted learning of 2020 they faced a huge challenge when they began their university applications. Unsurprisingly, this contributed to heightened reservations about progression to university. One of the particular hesitations the students had was about the cost of university and moving away; would they even be able to afford to study in London, was it even worth applying? With encouragement and reassurance several students took the plunge and begun their application journey.

After working hard to produce expressive and passionate personal statements, three students from CEMAST, two of whom were engaged in the Uni Connect programme received an invitation to interview and assessment at TEDI. The students were given one week to work on a project brief that they would then pitch to a panel of interviewers from the university. Each student was tasked with designing a product that would support a person experiencing Dementia or Alzheimer’s, detailing the design, rational and project development of their idea.

All three students worked exceptionally hard on their projects and came up with fascinating and innovative designs, drawing both on their skills in engineering and their own personal experiences that influenced the compassionate angle with which they approach their projects. It was amazing supporting the students through the process; their enthusiasm shone, and you could tell that pursuing engineering at university was the right path for them. Together the students drafted, redrafted, and drafted again until they were happy with their idea and finally presented to a panel of college staff in a mock interview. The level of professionalism and subject expertise they demonstrated was impressive- nerves were overcome and their confidence in their designs was inspiring.

All three students sailed through our Assessment Centre tasks with flying colours. The panels commented that they had really tackled the project as we would like TEDI-London students to – they were very motivated, passionate about engineering, had interesting project ideas which they presented clearly and all spoke with enthusiasm about team work

Judy Raper

Dean and CEO at TEDI-London

Following the success of their pitches, all three students were awarded an annual scholarship of £2,250 based purely on the merits of their exceptional performance at interview. Only four of these grants were awarded nationally so this achievement, especially for the Uni Connect students, was one to be proud of and the positive impact this additional funding will have on the students will certainly be significant.

One year later, and the college was lucky enough to be visited by one of the Uni Connect students who was acting as an ambassador for TEDI. The student was able to share his successes with the new cohort of engineers in training and hopefully students will continue to be as inspired to pursue engineering at HE as he was.